Deng's and De Gaulle's Sea World Ship

This ship the Minghua sits in a district of Shenzhen called Shekou and this is Sea World about 1km from the sea. A former golf course sits to the ship's left, a new multi-storey Hilton hotel under construction behind it and a new shopping centre under construction to the right.

This area is set to move upmarket over the next few years. In the foreground a couple of very familiar sights, a security guard snoozes while another incessantly plays with his mobile and a school boy heads home for lunch on the back of his dad's bike.

The Minghua's sat here since 1983 and it was 'inscribed by Chinese President, Deng Xiaoping, in 1984' (Whatever that means). Today it's home to a hotel and a bar called X Ta-Sea run by an American expat. Often there's an excellent Filipino band Kaktooz - they have one truly superb Hendrix lookalike guitarist.

The French built ship was a luxury cruiser, formerly known as ANCEVELLER. The ship has 9 floors, length 168M, wideh 21M, displacement of 14,000 tonnes. In 1962 French President Charles de gaulle cut the ribbon on the luxurious cruiser.

In 1973, China bought this ship and renamed "minghua"l. It became China's first Marine tourist centre in 1984.

Oh, and what a big anchor.